Probe over Titumir student Rajib killing deferred

Dhaka, April 18 – A Dhaka court Thursday directed Shahbagh Police Station to submit probe report by May 22 in the case filed over the death of Titumir College student Rajib Hossain in April last year. Magistrate Md Sarafuzzaman Ansary of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka passed the order after Sub-Inspector (SI) Edrish Ali, the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, did not submit any report by Thursday. With this, the CMM Court extended the deadline for submitting the probe report for the 11th time. The 21-year-old Rajib, a third-year student of Titumir Government College, died after losing his hand that got stuck between two buses in the capital on April 17 last year. His right hand was severed after it got stuck between two buses that were racing each other in the capital’s Karwan Bazar on April 3. After Rajib was in a coma for two weeks, he died on April 17. The case was filed against the drivers and helpers of the buses for their alleged involvement with injuring Rajib that led him to death. Following the case, police arrested the drivers of the BRTC and Sajan Paribahan buses involved in the incident. Since then, the two arrestees- Md Khorshed, driver of Sajan Paribahan, and Wahed Ali, driver of BRTC have been in jail. Earlier on April 1, the IO told media people that he would complete the investigation against drivers responsible for the death of Rajib within a short time and will submit the probe report to the court. Following a writ petition, the High Court on May 8, last year, ordered the bus companies to pay Tk one crore to Rajib’s family. The BRTC and Sajan Paribahan challenged the High Court order and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on May 22 stayed the order and asked the High Court to form an independent committee to assess the liabilities. Later, the committee, led by Professor Mizanur Rahman, Director of Accident Research Institute at BUET, in its report submitted in September said reckless driving was the “primary cause of the accident”. – Court Correspondent